


Trust is for Fools

by Princess_Claire_Fey



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Abandonment, Content Warning: Self-Harm, Gen, Self-Harm, not actually graphic, self-punishment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-08-20 15:02:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20229799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_Claire_Fey/pseuds/Princess_Claire_Fey
Summary: Azula failed. Failures deserve punishment.





	Trust is for Fools

Azula couldn't quite remember where she got the idea. It was probably from Mai, she did it first - but she couldn't be sure that's where she had first heard of it.  
  
The war had given her an excuse for her body not to be pristine, but sometimes it's best to go back to basics.  
  
She didn't have much room on her thighs, so she had to go deep. Too high and it shows in her training out fit, too low and it shows in a dress.  
  
So she was careful.  
  
Somehow, Azula had greater capacity to be careful when cutting her own thighs than when she was among potential traitors. You'd think times like these would be the one time she'd let loose, let her control subside for just a moment. But no, apparently stupid little Azula reserved _those_ times for critical moments where so-called friends could bring her plans crashing down. Where they could destroy Father's trust in her.  
  
How she didn't see it when it was so obvious was beyond Azula. She deserved a lot more than a little drawn blood. She wished that a firebender could be harmed by their own flame.  
  
Usually Father would fill in the gaps. Punish her in ways she couldn't. Ways she actually deserved.  
  
But he was nowhere to be seen. He had spent the last few days preparing to become the _Phoenix King_. Preparing to leave her alone. Alone with a position that meant nothing to nobody anymore.  
  
He didn't want her anymore. She wasn't even _worthy_ of his punishment.  
  
And no matter how many cuts she made she couldn't convince herself otherwise.  
  
She could only get herself to forget, for just a moment, what she had done. To think with a clear head like she used to.  
  
Until the next time someone made a promise to her, or held her tight and told her everything would be ok, or pledged their loyalty.  
  
Then the same stupid part of her would believe them, or maybe it would just remind her of her mistake, and it would all start again.  
  
She would make herself bleed until it went away.  
  
Until one day, hopefully, she would trust nobody. Maybe then Father would welcome her back.


End file.
